Role of Social Networking Media in Political Socialization of Youth of Multan

Transcription

1 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS) Vol. 35, No. 1 (2015), pp Role of Social Networking Media in Political Socialization of Youth of Multan Muhammad Ashraf Khan Chairman & Professor of Communication Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan ashraf_1963@yahoo.com Muhammad Yasir Shahbaz M.Phil Student of Communication Studies Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan yasirshahbaz2@gmail.com Abstract In this modern era, most of the politicians and political parties have started to use social networking media for their campaigns, promotion of ideology and to get the support of masses. On the other hand most of the social networking media users are also using this avenue for politics. Hence the main reason of the study is to find out the role of social networking media in political socialization of youth of Multan, Pakistan. So a survey method is employed to collect the data from the youth of Multan who are the users of social networking media. Findings of the study suggest that the social networking media has great influence on social and political learning of its users. Keywords: Social Networking Media, Political Socialization, Youth I. Introduction The emergence of internet and digital communication technologies has great contribution largely in the revolution of youth oriented media. Internet technology has provided a new outlet for dissemination of information, and it has repurposed the old content (Owen, 2008). Social networking media has changed the concept of old media. Now our societies are using Facebook, Twitter and blogs as a source of information (Hamillton, 2011). Social networking media also serve as an information store which facilitates its users to have access to variety of contents. Social networking sites also provide the opportunity to expand their contacts with whom they can get information and exchange the thoughts. It also provides the quick and easy way to circulate messages to a large circle of people without physical movement and from the comfort of their homes (Teresi, 2012). For the youth social networking media is a hot cake because it provides them the opportunity to stay connected with their friends, and a platform where they can exchange ideas, share pictures and videos. Social networking sites are playing the vital role for welfare of the societies, because it provides the platform for the members of the community to raise money for charity and humanitarian events (Keeffe & Pearson, 2011). Richey (2008) says that the social networking sites have great impact on voters because influence of one network member is highly dependent on the members of other. It also enhances the participation in elections Furthermore, Hanson et al. (2010) say that social networking media play vital role during the presidential campaign as each of the

2 438 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 35, No. 1 social media site provide platform to obtain political information to its user. According to Diana et al. (2011) social networking media played a vital role in the electing Obama as president in 2008 American elections. Social networking media can be defined as The applications that allow users to connect by creating personal information profiles, inviting friends and colleagues to have access to those profiles, and sending s and instant messages between each other. These personal profiles can include any type of information, including photos, video, audio files, and blogs (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009). Socialization means a process by which individual acquire knowledge, language, social skills and value to confirm the norms and rules required for integration into a group or community (business dictionary, 2012). According to Sigel (1965), "political socialization refers to the learning process by which the political norms and behaviors acceptable to an ongoing political system are transmitted from generation to generation. A civilized citizen is one who accepts (internalizes) society's political norms without a body politics, so in synchronization with the ongoing political ethics, a political system would have trouble functioning smoothly. In past, only the print media, one government owned broadcast television channel and few private channels were in Pakistan to inform and educate the people of the Pakistan and that was the only mouth piece of the government. Print media also did not enjoy the complete freedom; they were threatened and censored in the form of laws, ethics and advertisements. Mizzera & Sial (2010) argue that today the Pakistani media are mainly in the hands of corporate and business conglomerates. Some owners of these groups use media to protect and cover their business or political objectives. Moreover, these owners are no longer media people themselves. So they have their own objectives and they produce the content which suits them. Now the world has changed, this is the age of digital communication. The internet and the social networking media have changed the landscape of communication and information. In Pakistan the diffusion of social networking media is as fast as it is in other countries of the world. It has attracted millions of Pakistanis in a very short period of time. Martin (2011) says that Pakistanis are the active and fast growing users of Facebook and Twitter in the world with more than four million users of Facebook, and their numbers as compared to India is doubled. And 20 million Pakistanis are online regularly on different social sites which is four times more than the population of Singapore. Social networking media are playing the important role in the political socialization of the people of Pakistan. People of Pakistan are using the social networking media as a tool to get political information and to propagate their political beliefs. Many political activists and parties have their own personal account and official pages to attract and to mobilize the people. Amjad (2012) mentions that today in Pakistan political parties are using the social networking media; most of the political parties have their own personal websites and pages. Social networking media has become an important medium

3 Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Muhammad Yasir Shahbaz 439 for the political parties and political activists to attract the people for their support and to remain in contact with their networks. PTI is the biggest example of success of social networking media in creating impact on the younger generation of the Pakistan. II. Rationale of the study The initiation of the social networking media has changed the landscape of the communication and information. The fast growing social networking media has attracted the attention of millions of people across the world. People are wrathly getting involved in using the social networking media day by day, especially the youth. In Pakistan, like many other countries, social networking media are getting more and more popularity with every passing minute. It has grabbed the attention of the people from every age and every field, especially the youth. Its effects can be seen and measured in every field of life. So keeping in view the popularity, opportunities, amount of engagement and the effects of social networking media, the researcher has selected the topic to measure the impact of social networking media on political socialization of youth. It is because, in all over the world social networking media are plying significant role in bringing revolutions and political changes. It has become the important tool for political campaigns and political communication. III. Objectives of the study The era in which we are living is the era of media. There are numerous channels of traditional and nontraditional media to inform, educate and to entertain the consumer and these channels have a great impact on their consumer. Similarly social networking media also have its role so the main objectives of the study are as under I. To study the awareness level of users of different social networking sites II. To find out level of trust over the information received from social networking sites. III. To find out the impact of social networking media on political socialization. IV. To find out the impact of social networking media on the political knowledge and political participation of the youth. IV. Literature review Richey (2008) investigates the influence of social network on political knowledge and on voting behavior in the American national presidential election of He applied autoregressive theory and used NES data from 2000 respondents to investigate the impact. He concludes that the social networking sites had great impact on voters because influence of one network member was highly dependent on the members of other network. Discussions on social networking sites enhanced the chance of participation in elections and vote similarity among the user of social networking sites. He confirms the autoregressive influence of social networking sites on political knowledge and on voting behavior. Ancu & Cozma (2009) conducts the survey and argues that the social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, emerged as a political tool for campaigns in November 2006 during the congressionel U.S elections. Now this time these websites became part and parcel medium for any modern political campaign. They also argue that

4 440 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 35, No. 1 the people are indulging in MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites because they allow the users to communicate with friends and the friends of their friends and this is the most significant feature of the social networking sites. Diana et al. (2011) explore that social media facilitate the new types of participation and changes the forms of establish patterns of political engagement. Social networking sites played a vital role in electing Obama as president in 2008 American election. This American presidential campaign was the mother for the cultivation of social media and its progress is continued and will continue to expand the nature and scope of citizen engagement. Teresi (2009) conducts a research on computer mediated social networks. She has adopted experimental design and proves that through computer mediated social network, political information can successfully be transferred. The findings confirm that social networking sites enable users to influence the political knowledge of their social network users without physically engaging each member in direct communication. She also measures the significance of greater use of social networking websites over traditional media and finds that people have access to their social sites more than twice as often as they watch a local news program or discuss politics with their friends and family. Owen (2008) claims that the emergence of internet and digital communication technologies contributes largely to revolution in youth oriented media because internet technology provides a new outlet to dissemination of information and repurpose old content that had fascinated young voters. Social networking sites have made the electronic politics visible to young people. Online videos, blogs, podcasts, online video conferencing and electronic chat rooms are the important tools for expressing and getting information. Young people are encouraged and motivated with these communication outlets during campaigns. Facebook as a political forum is impressively versatile in its features like sharing photos and videos, writing comments on walls. Using shared information has made it interactive forum to engage and activate the users in campaigns. Hamilton (2011) claims that the social media has changed the concept of old media. Now our societies are using the Facebook, Twitter and blogs as a source of information. Social networking media influences the political campaigns of the world. In the United States during the election years the use of social media by the politicians increased to mobilize the voters. A study is conducted by researchers to know the impact of social media on the political behavior of 18 to 24 year aged voters and the results revealed that social media has a great impact on young voters, and he also suggests that the use of social media by the candidates is not always a good and effective way to reach young voters.. Papic & Noonan (2011) argue that in order to mobilize the people social networking media has become an important tool and the role of social media in revolutions and protests is very prominent. Social networking media has made the conditions more complicated for dictators and for the rigid regimes. Social networking media such as Facebook and Twitter helps people in Tunisia and Egypt to organize the people, communicate and to commence public insubordination. The western countries followed the green revolution of Iran via YouTube and Twitter in The revolution of Moldova in 2009 can be called as the Twitter revolution.

5 Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Muhammad Yasir Shahbaz 441 V. Research Questions Q 1: How much people think about political and social issues due to social networking media? Q 2: Do the social networking media maximize the political exposure of the individual? Q 3: How many people rely on the information obtained by the social networking media? Q 4: How often the people read and comment on content related to politics? Q 5: How much social networking media are influential on voting behavior of the users? Q 6: Do the social networking media provoke to participate in political demonstration? Q 7: Do the use of social networking media help in developing the social behavior of the community? Q 8: Have the social networking media influenced Pakistani politics? Q 9: Does the utilization of social networking media affect the political socialization of youth? Q 10: Does the social networking media has an equal impact on the political socialization of male and female? VI. Research methodology For this particular study the researchers select the explanatory research methodology. And for the data collection survey method is used. A. Research design According to the nature of the study and requirements of the research project the following research method has been used. B. Survey research To obtain the required data the researchers have used survey method and has formulated a questionnaire which comprised of 18 questions in which 16 are close ended and two are open ended. The population of the research is the whole young generation consisting male and female, residents of Multan city between the ages of who use social networking media sites. The researcher has used purposive sampling technique for data collection and the sample consists of 200 respondents/ research subjects. VII. Findings Table 1 explains the question about how much people think about political and social issues due to social networking media. The data of this table shows that 33% (66) of the total respondents are in favor of great extent that they think about the political category and social issues due to social networking media and 58% (116) respondents are in favor of the category to great extent. Whereas the 9% (18) participants mention that they do not think about political and social issues due to social networking media. The table differentiates the facts according to male and female as 18% (36) males and 15% (30) female users believe that they think about social and political issues due to social networking media. While 28% (56) males and 30% (60) females are in favor of to some extent, while 4% (8) males and 5% (10) of the total sample say that they do not think about the political and social issues due to social networking media. After analysis of the data the results answer the 1 st research question as the majority of the people think about social and political issues to some extent due to social networking media.

6 442 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 35, No. 1 Table 1: Thinking about political and social issues (n=200) Respondents To great extent To some extent Not at all Male % 28% 4% Female % 30% 5% Total % 58% 9% Table 2: Political exposure (n=200) Respondents To great extent To some extent Not at all Male % 38% 1% Female % 36% 6% Total % 74% 7% Table 3: Rely on information (n=200) Respondents To great extent To some extent Not at all Male % 28.5% 5.5% Female % 24% 15.5% Total % 52.5% 21% Table 2 answers the question about political exposure via social networking media. It tells that 26.5% (53) of the total sample supports the category to great extent that social media maximize the political exposure of the individual, whereas 52.5% (105) users are in favor of to some extent and 21% (42) completely denied the statement. Regarding male female table gives the same view as above with little difference as 36% (32) males and 10.5% (21) females of total sample have the same opinion that it enhances the political exposure to great extent. On the other hand 28.5% (57) males and 24% (48) female agree to some extent with the statement, whereas 5.5% (11) male and 15.5% (31) of total sample rejected the statement. After the analysis of the data, the results of this table depict the answer of 2 nd research question as the majority of the participants agree to some extent that the social networking media maximize the political exposure of the individual while the larger

7 Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Muhammad Yasir Shahbaz 443 numbers of the participants were in favor that social networking media maximize the political exposure to great extent and only few of them disagreed with the statement. So findings suggest that the majority of the participants approved this question to some extent. The data of table 3 explain the query about how much people rely on the information which they acquire from social networking media. The results describe the clear picture that how much people rely on the information and to what extent? It shows that 19% (38) of total sample say that to great extent they rely on the information they get from social networking media Whereas 74% (148) participants were in favor of to some extent and only 7% (14) users say that they do not rely on the information at all. The table differentiates the data between male and female as 11% (22) males and 8% (16) females of the total sample rely on the information to great extent, whereas 38% (76) males and 36% (72) females go with the option to some extent. Those who do not rely on the information 1% (2) are males and 6% (12) are females from the total sample. After the analysis of the data, it is revealed that the majority of the people rely to some extent on the information obtained from the social networking media. Table 4: Read and comment on political contents (n=200) Reading Messages Giving Comments Respondents Yes No Always Mostly Sometimes Never Male % 12% 9% 16% 24% 1% Female % 11% 4% 16% 24% 6% Total % 33% 13% 32% 48% 7% The data of this table shows that 77% (154) of the total sample read the political messages on the social networking media whereas 23% (46) do not read the messages related to politics. On the other hand the data of the table tells that38% (76) males and 39% (78) females of the total sample read the political messages. While the 12% (24) males and 11% (22) females say that they do not read the political messages on the social networking media. Where the question about comments is, the data of this table answers that 13% (26) users of the total sample always use to comment on political contents on social networking media, whereas 32% (64) mostly use to comment on political contents and 48% (96) users cite that they use to comment on political contents sometime. While 7% (14) participants of total sample mention that they never do comment on contents related to politics. Gender wise the data of this table shows that 9% (18) males 4% (8) females declare that they always use to comment on the contents related to politics, whereas 16% (32) males and 16% (32) females of the total sample cite that they mostly use to comment on the political contents. While the 24% (48) male and 24% (48) females use to

8 444 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 35, No. 1 comment sometimes. Even as 1% (2) male and 6% (12) females of total participants say that they never use to comment on political contents on social networking media. After the analysis of the data the findings revealed that the majority of the respondents read the political messages on the social networking media while the 45 %( 90) use to comment always and mostly but the participants who use to comment sometime is little higher in numbers then use to comment always and mostly. So the tendency of the reading and commenting on political contents is higher than those who do not read and comment on the political contents. Table 5: Influence on voting behavior (n=200) Respondents Yes No Male % 9% Female % 13% Total % 22% Table 5 presents the point of view of the participants about the influence of the social networking media on the voting behavior of the consumer. The data of this table shows that 78% (156) of the total sample have a same opinion that the social networking media influence the voting behavior of the users, whereas 22% (44) do not agree with the majority. According to male and female category, the data of this table shows that 41% (82) males and 37% (74) female participants of the total sample opted the option yes and 9% (18) males and 13% (26) female participants do not agree that the social networking media influence the voting behavior of the consumer. So the table answers the 5 th research question as the majority of the respondents agree that the use of social networking media influence the voting behavior of the users. Table 6: Provoke to participate in political demonstration (n=200) Respondents Yes No Male % 22% Female % 27% Total % 49% The table 6 describes the question whether social networking media provoke the users to participate in political demonstration or not. The data shows that 51% (102) of the total sample mention that the social media provoke them to participate in political demonstration, while 49% (98) state that the social networking media do not provoke them to participate in political demonstration.

9 Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Muhammad Yasir Shahbaz 445 Gender wise data obtained clear the picture, as 28% (56) male users and 23% (46) female users of the total sample have the same opinion that the social networking media provoke them to participate in political demonstration; whereas 22% (44) male users and 27% (54) female users mention that the social networking media do not provoke them to participate in political demonstration. The answer of the 6 th research question is that there is no significant difference between those who are provoked to participate in political demonstration by the social networking media and those who are not. They are almost equal. Table 7: Developing the social behavior (n=200) Respondents To great extent To some extent Not at all Male % 13% 3.5% Female % 15.5% 5.5% Total % 28.5% 9% Table No. 7 presents the picture about the role of social networking media in developing the social behavior of the community. The data shows that 52.5% (125) of the total participants are agreed that the use of social networking media help them in developing the social behavior of the community to great extent, whereas 28.5% (57) users are agree to some extent. While 9% (18) participants do not think that the use of social networking media help in developing the social behavior of the community. The contradiction of the opinion between the genders is not very significant as the data of this table shows that 33.5% (67) male and 29% (58) female users of the total sample believe that the use of social networking media help in developing behavior of the community, whereas 13% (26) male and 15.5% (31) female users are agree to some extent. Even as the 3.5% (7) male and 5.5% (11) female users of the total sample mention that they do not believe that the use of social networking media helps them in developing the social behavior of the community. The findings of this table suggest that the majority of the participants believe that the social networking media help in developing the social behavior of the community to great extent. While some opine in favor of to some extent and the few participants opine that social networking media does not help in developing social behavior of community. Table 8 explains that 76% (152) participants of the total sample opined in favor of the option "yes' that the social networking media influence on Politics of Pakistan and 24% (48) think that social networking media does not influence on Pakistani politics. Gender also makes no difference in this opinion except minor. As the table of male and female shows that the 40% (80) males and 36% (72) females believe that the social networking media influenced Pakistani politics, whereas, 10% (20) males and 14% (28) females of the total sample do not agree with the majority.

10 446 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 35, No. 1 Table 8: Influence on Pakistan politics (n=200) Respondents Yes No Male % 10% Female % 14% Total % 24% This table gives the answer of 8 th research question as the majority of the social networking media users believe that the use of social networking media have influenced Pakistani politics Table 9: Political socialization (n=200) Categories Positive Response Positive response Total Male Female Thinking about political &social issues 46% 45% 91% Political exposure % 34.5.% 79% Rely on information % 44% 93% Reading political messages % 39% 77% Comment on political Messages 49% 44% 93% Voting behavior % 37% 78% Participation in political demonstration 28% 23% 51% Developing social behavior % 44.5% 91% This table comprises the activities and thinking of the youth regarding social networking media. The overall view of this table presents the picture about the political socialization of youth due to social networking media. The finding of this table suggests that the 91% (182) users in which 46% (92) male and 45% (90) female users of the total sample agree that the social networking media persuade them to think about the social and political issues. But among these respondents majority of the participants which are 58% (116) are in favor of the option "to some extent" that they think about social and political issues due to social networking media.

11 Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Muhammad Yasir Shahbaz 447 Regarding the question about political exposure 79% (158) users including 44.5% (89) male and 34.5% (69) female users of the total sample mention that the social networking media enhance the political exposure of the individual. While 93% (186) of the total participants in which 49% (98) males and 44% (88) females say that they rely on the information obtained by the social media but the majority of them which is 74% (148) of the total sample said that they rely on the information obtained by social media to some extent. The tendency of reading political messages among the participants on social networking media is as 77% (154) of the total sample in which 38% (76) males and 39% (78) female users were of the view that they read political messages on social networking media. Whereas the question related to commenting on the political messages the data reveals that 93% (186) participants of the total sample including 49% (98) male and 44% (88) female users agree that they use to comment on political contents on social networking media but 48% (96) participants of the total respondents say that they sometimes use to comment on social networking media. While 78% (156) of the total sample in which 41% (82) males and 37% (74) females agree that use of the social networking media influence their voting behavior. The data tells about the participation of respondents in political demonstration as 41% (102) of the total respondents in which 28% (56) male and 23% (46) female users agree that the social networking media provoke them to participate in political demonstration. This table also explains about the questions whether social networking media develop the social behavior of the community or not? The data shows that the 91% (182) users of the total sample agree that the use of social networking media develop the social behavior of the community. Gender wise data shows that 46.5% (93) male and 44.5% (89) female users of the total sample agree with the above statement. But among these participants 28.5% (57) users of total sample are of the view that the use of social networking media develops the social behavior of the community to some extent. So in the end finding conclude that the social networking media plays a prominent role in political socialization of the youth. And it also explains the last research question that the political influence of the social networking media on female users is lesser than the male users. VIII. Discussion and conclusion Political socialization is a concept in which people think, learn and participate in politics. Most of the users think that through social networking media the positive changes can be brought in the society and the proper use of it can be helpful tool to inform, to educate and to stimulate the users for humanitarian events and raise voice for their political and social rights. Social networking media provides such materials which make the users to think about political and social issues. Most of the participants were agreed that to some extent, it make users to think about political and social issues and almost half of them were agree to great extent in the favor of that the social media force them to think about social and political issues (See Table No.1). It is a remarkable role of the social media because thinking and understanding about any issue is the first step towards its solution.

12 448 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 35, No. 1 The consensus of the opinion can also be measured on the political role of social media that the majority of the people, think that to some extent the use of social media maximize their political exposure (See Table No.2). The reason could be that all kind of information on social networking media is not about the politics and every user is not interested in politics so they remain at the distance from politics and divert their attention towards other contents of their interest. Furthermore they rely, to some extent on the information obtained from the social networking media (See Table No.3). It might be as there is also lot of platforms where they can get information about politics. Secondly the social networking media is all about the users. Almost all contents or information shared and posted by the users are not from the authentic, reliable and unbiased sources. So the people can manipulate and reproduce the contents or information according to their will. That is why the people gave responses as they rely, to some extent on the information obtained from social networking media. Whereas, the question about the influence of the social networking media on voting behavior is concerned the majority of the people agree that the social networking media persuade them to cast their votes in upcoming election (See Table No.5). Once again it is confirmed that the social networking media influence on the voting behavior of the users. Therefore the opinion is divided on participation of the participants in political demonstration. The ratio of yes or no is almost equal among the participants regarding the role of media to provoke them to participate in political demonstration (See Table No.6). As the law and order situation of Pakistan is not good for any type of demonstration or users could be physically passive. That is why the large number of the users do not want to participate in political demonstrations practically and they just express their views on social networking media because it provides them the safest avenue to express their concerns. The obtained data also suggests that the most of the social media users think that the social networking media enables them to think about the politics in different way. They receive comments and information about the politics on a social networking media that reveal the truth which traditional media do not broadcast or publish due to certain reasons. The majority of the participants also believe that the social networking media help in developing the social behavior of the community (See Table No.7). It is because the social networking provides the opportunity to interact with lot of people across the physical boundaries and there is lot of things on it that provide the opportunity to learn about many things. As far as the question of influence of social networking media on Pakistani politics was concerned, the role of social networking media in political socialization of youth was visible and significant (See Table No.8). It is the positive role of social networking media in the field of politics because it changes the old trends of the politics and political campaigns. The study also explores that the social networking media has opened an unconventional space of information, knowledge and entertainment for young people. References Amjad, A. (2012). Social media: from Innovation to revolution. Retrieved on 18/07/2012 from

13 Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Muhammad Yasir Shahbaz 449 Ancu, M., & Cozma, R. (2009). MySpace, politics: Uses and gratification of befriending candidates. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 53(4), DOI: / Business dictionary. (2012). Socialization. Retrieved on 5/7/12 from: Diana, O., Soule S., Narine, J., Chalif, R., House, K., & Davidson,M. (2011). Civic education and social media use. Electronic Media & Politics, 1 (1), Retrieved from: Hamilton, S. (2011). Use of social media in presidential campaigns: Do social media have an effect on the political behavior of voters aged 18-24? (Honors Theses, Rroger William University, Bristol, U.S.A). Retrieved from Kaplan, A., & Haenlein, M. (2009). Users of the world, unite! the challenges and opportunities of social media. Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. doi: /j.bushor Keeffe, S, G., & Pearson, C, K. (2011). The Impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics, 127 (4), Doi: /peds Retrieved from Martin, W. (2011). Pakistan s social media revolution. Retrieved from Mizzera, M., & Sial, S. (2010). Media and governance in Pakistan. Initiative for Peace Building, p.12, 33 Netherlands: Owen, D. (2008). Election media and youth political engagement. Journal of Social Science Education, 7(2), Retrieved from Papic, M., & Noonan, S. (2011). Social media as tool for protest. Security Weekly.Retrieved from Richey, S. (2008). The autoregressive influence of social network political knowledge on voting behavior. B.J.Pol S.38, Cambridge University Press U.K.DOI: /S Sigel, R. (1965). Assumptions about the learning of political values. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 361:1-9 Teresi, H. (2012). Wired for influence: A series of experiments evaluating the ability of peer interaction through social network sites to influence political knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Political Science Dissertations, 22. Retrieved from